News Desk
Finally! Pakistani government recovered from deep slumber when Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, while addressing the National Assembly on Friday, denied the reports and claims of Afghan government that Taliban leader and founder Mullah Omar died inside Pakistan. "He didn't died here and is not buried in Pakistan", said Defense Minister.
Finally! Pakistani government recovered from deep slumber when Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, while addressing the National Assembly on Friday, denied the reports and claims of Afghan government that Taliban leader and founder Mullah Omar died inside Pakistan. "He didn't died here and is not buried in Pakistan", said Defense Minister.
He rejected the claims that the Afghan Taliban leader was in Quetta or in Karachi. He also made it clear that Pakistan has no interest in being part of ongoing leadership crisis within Afghan Taliban.Pakistan just wants peace in the region and is playing its role as a facilitator in negotiations between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government, he added.
He also clarified that Mullah Omar was never treated in any hospital in Karachi. Asif said that statements made by Mullah Omar's family prove that he died in Afghanistan and was buried there as well.
He was of the view that an atmosphere of peace can only be established in the region after ensuring peace in Afghanistan.
Last month, It was announced by Afghan intelligence and government that Mullah Omar, the reclusive leader of the Afghan Taliban movement, died more than two years ago in Karachi. Pakistani rebuttal of official Afghan narrative came after 9 days when it was first confirmed by Kabul that Mullah Omar died in 2013 in a Pakistani hospital in Karachi.
“The government ... based on credible information, confirms that Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban died in April 2013 in Pakistan,” the Afghan presidential palace had said in a statement.
Later, the Afghan Taliban confirmed the death of their leader Mullah Omar but did not say when or where he died. The statement though rejected claims of his demise on Pakistani soil. The statement said “his [Mullah Omar's] health condition deteriorated in the last two weeks” and “not for a single day did he go to Pakistan”.
Omar's death marks a significant blow to the Taliban, which is riven by internal divisions and threatened by the rise of the self-styled Islamic State group, the Middle East terrorist outfit that is trying to establish footprint in Afghanistan. So far, it is limited only in Nangarhar province. The most immediate impact of Mullah Omar's death was postponement of second round of peace talks between Taliban and Kabul regime of Ashraf Ghani.
Omar's death marks a significant blow to the Taliban, which is riven by internal divisions and threatened by the rise of the self-styled Islamic State group, the Middle East terrorist outfit that is trying to establish footprint in Afghanistan. So far, it is limited only in Nangarhar province. The most immediate impact of Mullah Omar's death was postponement of second round of peace talks between Taliban and Kabul regime of Ashraf Ghani.
The delay in Pakistani response provided certain hostile actors in the region with an opportunity to malign Pakistan for hiding Mullah Omar during the last 14 years of Global War on Terror (GWoT) just like Osama Bin Laden. Indian media was particularly vocal in this regard and so was former NDS chief Amarullah Saleh. Ruling PMLN government remained bogged down by domestic political issues while Pakistan had to bear the brunt of a well orchestrated media campaign of disinformation targeted at highlighting Pakistan as terror harboring state. This was not the first time when Pakistani government's ineptness was exposed by such development. In 2011, when Osama Bin Laden was killed by US SEAL team in Abbottabad, the absence of any official narrative provided explosive to hostile media and diplomatic entities to portray Pakistan as global terror hub. Evidently, no lesson was learnt from that humiliation!
